Select one of the questions below for each paper/event:

--Begin by identifying the subject matter of the play and the (historical) time in which it takes place. Identify the number of characters, who they are and what their relationship is to one another. Identify the location in which the play takes place, whether a single location or many. What was the central theme of the production? How did the playwright's characters reinforce the theme and details of the story? How did the production design (scenery, costumes, lighting, makeup, sound, properties) contribute to the main idea of the play. When and how was symbol or metaphor used to expand the story-telling and increase the audience's connection to the theme? Were you interested in the story that was told? If so, why, if no, why not?

--The answer to this question will be drawn almost entirely from your response to the scene design of a production. Begin by identifying the subject matter of the play and the (historical) time in which it takes place. Identify the number of characters, who they are and what their relationship is to one another. Identify the location in which the play takes place, whether a single location or many. How does the scene design provide an environment that is appropriate to the mood and action of the play? Does color impact your experience? What are the basic elements on stage that indicate location? Are there characters that seem to align themselves with a particular area or piece of furniture onstage? If so, why? Does the groundplan promote certain movement patterns and can these be identified as specific to particular characters? How is ‘place’ realized through the use of symbol or metaphor or stylized elements? Is the scene design successful or unsuccessful?

--We have investigated the components of a play as defined by Aristotle in the Poetics.
Select three of the six elements (plot, character, theme, diction, music, spectacle) and evaluate those topics as they are specifically applied to your theatre-going experience. In all cases you should use examples from the production itself to support and justify your comparisons and conclusions. You should identify at least three examples that amplify your understanding of and response to each of the elements that you choose to evaluate. Synopsis should be used sparingly; however, plot cannot be investigated without identifying the mechanics of the story telling. The content of your paper and your use of phrasing and example should clearly establish that you distinguish between the two. --Identify and discuss your response to and assessment of the organizational arrangement of your evening in the theatre. Discuss your experience in the theatre space itself, both before and after the performance. Discuss the transitional moment between being seated and the beginning of the play. What expectations emerged based on your observation of the stage set prior to the beginning of the play. Using your knowledge of the organizational elements of a dramatic text—i.e. exposition and expository devices, inciting incident (conflict), obstacles and complications, discoveries, climax, and denouement—use your paper as a means to reveal your understanding of structure as it applies to your experience in the theatre. What was your experience during the curtain call and immediately afterwards as you left behind the evening's entertainment.